


sleepless

by starrygalaxysky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I wrote this at 2 am after a Voltron binge, Keith is unsure, Low quality, M/M, at least it was more than Adam got in season 7, it's just fluff, klance, kosmo is a good boy, lots of lovely klance, low-key depressed Lance, lowercase intentional, not edited, not my best work, pidge gets mentioned once, shiro has like ten seconds of story time, so it's low quality, the Wolf's name is kosmo until someone tells me otherwise, there's no real timeline to this story, they/them pronouns for Pidge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 23:21:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15806613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrygalaxysky/pseuds/starrygalaxysky
Summary: lance struggles to sleep at night, because his thoughts are too loud and the castle is too quiet.but someone ends up helping him, someone he least expected.(i'm trash at summaries just read it please)





	sleepless

**Author's Note:**

> so I basically wrote this at 2 am after binge-ing the entire seven seasons of voltron. 
> 
> which is probably why it's low quality.
> 
> originally the story was going to be longer but i cut out a lot of the scenes because i just didn't like them. but I could put them into a part 2 if you guys want?? 
> 
> please tell me what you think at the end! even if you think it was the worst story ever (which lmao it low-key is)

lance couldn’t sleep.

he’d spent all night tossing and turning, counting sheep, listening to music, watching the bizarre alien tv programmes they picked up on the satellite, trying to get to sleep.

but he couldn’t.

it was the quietness. it was too quiet, too lifeless at night, with no-one else there to break the silence. 

and his thoughts seemed so much louder in that quiet little room. 

he’d gone about four nights without sleep now, and it was beginning to affect him. he felt exhausted, mentally and physically, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t sleep. 

he was snappier than normal- just this morning he’d gotten mad and shouted at pidge when all they’d said was a simple joke.

and when they were training earlier, he’d felt so tired, he could barely shoot or aim properly, and he’d caused the team to fail.

which obviously didn’t help his inferiority complex and further assured him that he wasn’t needed. 

everyone was worried about him, he could tell. he tried to hide it and brush it off, acting like he was fine, but he wasn’t. he just didn’t want to worry them. he didn’t need to place any more burden on them than he already had.

feeling exhausted, he grabbed his slippers and jacket and headed out of his room, padding silently down the hallways, hands in his pockets.

the castle was so different at night, the dark and silent hallways that had previously been so open and inviting now dark and foreboding. 

lance didn’t really have any good idea of where he was going to do, just decided to wander through the hallways, hoping the exercise would tire him out. 

he could hear thudding coming from the training room, soft thuds that got louder the closer he walked. 

it was probably just keith in there, doing some extra training. but lance still headed towards the room, his fingers reaching for the door.

he walked into the room and unsurprisingly, keith was stood in the middle, sparring with a drone, a sheen of sweat on his face.

lance closed the door behind him and headed over to a corner, sitting down, too tired to properly think about what he was doing.

at the sound of the closing door, keith looked at him, a quizzical expression on his face, but he didn’t say anything, just carried on sparring until the drone was defeated.

“pause simulation.” he called out, wiping a hand over his forehead before heading to lance.

he walked over and sat down in front of lance, panting a little. he’d clearly been working hard.

“hey man. what you doing down here?” lance asked sleepily, eyes half open. 

“i couldn’t sleep, so i thought i’d do some training. what about you?” keith answers softly, eyeing lance oddly.

“i couldn’t sleep either. it’s too quiet in there and my thoughts are too loud.” lance answers, his brain too tired to filter what he’s saying. 

“do you, um, want to talk about it?” keith asks, sounding a little hesitant and unsure. 

“nah, just carry on fighting or whatever. pretend i’m not here.” lance says, and keith nods, looking at him for a few seconds before heading back to the drone and getting back into the simulation.

the sounds of fighting are loud, but also soothing, because they keep coming in a rhythm, in a pattern, and it’s comforting. 

lance eventually dozes off, and has the best sleep he’s had for a long time.

when he wakes up, he’s back in his own bed.

 

//////////////

 

the next time it happens is a few nights later.

keith hasn’t said anything about that night, and the more lance thinks about it, the more he’s convinced it was just a bizarre dream. 

but since that night he’s been struggling to sleep again.

and today is especially bad.

they were called out to a planet that lance couldn’t pronounce, to help free the people from the galrans ruling it. 

the fight was long and hard, and even though voltron won in the end, they (read lance) had made several mistakes and errors that resulted in severe destruction and loss of life.

and despite the happiness of the people who had been freed, the way they had thanked voltron and pledged allegiance so willingly and sincerely, the images of destruction and sorrow and loss were burned into lance’s mind.

every time he closed his eyes he could see that family mourning, he could see all the people he’d killed when he’d been too busy with one galra flyer to notice the other one sneaking around. 

it was haunting him. 

he couldn’t bear to be in his room, where his thoughts were so loud, so he’d been sat in what passed as the living room, curled up on the sofas, blasting music through his headphones.

the music was so loud he could hear it even without the headphones, but it still wasn’t loud enough to block out his thoughts. 

he felt so awful, and he desperately needed someone to speak to, someone to tell him it wasn’t his fault, someone to reassure him.

but he didn’t know who it could be. 

he put his head in his hands and the tears poured down, but he didn’t stop them. 

he wasn’t able to hear anything because of the music, so when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder, he jumped and might’ve screamed a little.

he looked behind him to see keith, looking as tired as he felt stood behind him, looking worried.

lance yanked the headphones off and stopped the music, turning around angrily.

“jesus mullet, you scared me! knock or something next time!” he said, his voice a little unsteady because of the crying.

“it’s not your room, i don’t have to knock to come- are you crying?” keith asks, sounding surprised. he looks at lance, a mix of emotions in his eyes.

lance hurriedly wipes the tears away as keith jumps over to sit next to him.

“no. i was just chopping onions.” lance says, and even he can hear how much of a pathetic excuse that is. they haven’t even found any onions in space yet, but he’s sure they will soon. 

there must be some aliens somewhere with onions. 

“are you ok? do you want to talk about it?” keith asks quietly, fidgeting a little. 

lance just shakes his head. he does want someone to talk to, but out of all the people, keith would not he his first choice. he’s a bit awkward with emotions and lance feels bad burdening with something he’s not great at dealing with. 

“i just, um, i miss my family.” lance says. it’s not the truth, but it’s not a lie either. he wipes his eyes again because for some reason he’s started crying again. 

“how many people are in your family?” keith asks, after a long pause, sounding genuinely curious. 

“well, i’m the youngest of five kids, and then my parents and my abuela and my nieces and nephews and in-laws. there’s about thirteen of us, not counting cousins and stuff. we all live in one big house. it’s pretty sweet.” lance says, rambling on.

“you have four older siblings? that’s a big family.” keith comments, sounding a little wistful. 

“nah not really. my mama is one of seven kids, and my abuela was one of twelve, so five kids is actually quite small compared to that.” lance explains.

and the night continues like that. lance just rambles on and keith asks questions or makes little comments, but it’s mostly just lance rambling.

but it’s nice. keith actually listens to what he’s saying and seems fascinated by it, and lance is distracted from the events of the day.

he doesn’t really pay attention to what he’s saying, just lets it flow, rambling about everything and anything that flashes across his brain.

just like last time, he wakes up in his own bed. 

 

/////////

 

the next day is normal, keith doesn’t say anything or acknowledge any of the events last night, lance thinks it was probably all some bizarre dream.   
but later that evening, when a red-faced keith appears at lance’s door, lance starts to think that maybe it wasn’t a dream, and is left racking his brain, trying to remember exactly what he said to keith last night.

“hey man, any reason why you’re at my room or did you just get lost?” lance asks, a little confused.

keith is bright red, and looks more embarrassed than he did that time all the aliens wouldn’t stop hugging him and praising him. 

“don’t say anything to make this weird.” keith mutters, before stepping around lance and getting into lance’s bed.

lance would’ve screamed at him if it wasn’t the middle of the night and hunk wasn’t asleep in the room down the hall.

“what do you think you’re doing mullet?” lance whisper-shouts, hissing at him, but keith just grabs his arm and pulls him into bed.

lance is utterly confused but decides not to say anything and just gets into bed, trying to stay as far away from keith as possible.

thankfully keith is pretty skinny and has pushed himself as far up against the wall as possible, so there’s a far bit of space for lance. 

“so, any reason why you’re in my bed?” lance asks after a moment, and keith huffs and rolls over so they’re face to face.

“you said some things to me yesterday, and i’ve been thinking about them, and i want to help. but i’m not good with, the um emotional stuff, so i thought i could just be here and maybe that would help? and you could talk to me if you wanted. but if you don’t want to, you don’t need to, but i’m, um here for you.” keith says softly, sounding unsure and still blushing. 

lance is shocked. he never expected this from keith, of all people. 

he’s also a bit worried about what exactly he said to keith, but he can worry about that later. 

“thanks man. “ lance says, and keith smiles before turning back around. 

and even though it’s still quiet in the room, and the thoughts are still racing through lance’s mind at a hundred miles per hour, they suddenly don’t seem as daunting.

keith’s presence is comforting in a way lance had never expected, and it helps him to slowly drift off to sleep. 

he’s gone in the morning when lance wakes up.

 

////

 

it becomes a little routine for the two of them. 

they head off to bed separately, then keith sneaks into his room. 

sometimes they talk, sometimes they just listen to music, other times they just go to sleep.

they haven’t said anything about it to anyone, and neither of them discuss it outside of lance’s room. lance isn’t sure why, but this is something he doesn’t want to share with anyone. it’s too personal. 

tonight is one of the quieter nights, neither of them have said anything yet, though lance can sense that keith has something to say.

it’s odd just fast he’s picked up things about keith. 

“i’m going back to the blade of marmora.” keith eventually says, and lance freezes for a moment.

“why? i thought they were going to lay low for a while.” lance asks, trying to mask the hurt in his voice.

“kolivan said they’d lost a lot of members, but they’d had some amazing intel come in that they can’t miss. i just need to work on a few missions, so i won’t be gone for long.” he explains, not looking at lance. 

“have you told the others?” lance asks.

“i wanted to tell you first.”

 

////////

 

the first night without keith is awful. 

lance just can’t get to sleep. no matter how hard he tries.

he needs to talk to someone, he needs someone to tell him he’s not useless and that he has a place on the team.

but everyone else is asleep.  
the nights after that get harder. lance gets more and more tired, but sleep becomes further and further away.

the only consolation he has is that keith won’t be gone for long.

 

//////

 

keith returns late in the night, after two weeks of being away.

when lance hears that keith has returned, he runs to the pod bay and hugs keith as hard as he can the moment keith steps out of the pod.

“woah! hey lance. guess you missed me then.” keith jokes, hugging lance back. 

when the rest of the team finally make their way down, keith and lance spring apart before anyone notices. 

later that night they talk and talk, catching up on what they missed, eventually falling to sleep.

keith is still there when lance wakes up.

 

/////

 

keith and lance head off for breakfast together, after checking the hallways are clear.

“keith! i need to speak to you.” shiro says the moment the pair set foot in the kitchen, dragging keith back outside.

“i was going to talk to you last night but you weren’t in your room.” shiro says when they enter the hallway. “how was your mission? kolivan said you weren’t sleeping properly. he’s worried about you.” shiro asks, in his space-dad voice, laced with concern and worry. 

“i was just talking a walk around to try and help me sleep. i guess i just missed my bed back here, the beds at the blade headquarters are pretty rough.” keith says, trying to keep his voice light.

he hates lying to shiro, but he doesn’t know what else to say. 

“i’m glad to see you and lance are getting on. you were always bickering before. a good leader ensures they have strong relationships with everyone they work with.” shiro continues, and keith has to try and keep a straight face.

if shiro only knew just how well he and lance were getting on. 

if keith only knew what exactly their relationship was. right now, to him, it was just a mix of confusing emotions and feelings that he tried not to think about. 

but it was the only thing he ever thought about now. 

 

//////

 

“but what is his name? you can’t just call him wolf.” lance said, stroking the wolf who was now sprawled across his bed. 

“i don’t know yet. he’ll tell me when he’s ready. and we already had this conversation.” keith said from the corner where he was brushing his hair and looking in the mirror. 

he’d just spent two years traveling with his mother and the wolf, but he didn’t look any older. and the other members didn’t even know, because the time had gone normally for them. 

it was weird. 

eventually he gave up and crawled into bed, lance and the wolf following, the wolf curling up around their feet. 

“i really think kosmo is a good name.” lance continued. 

“i’m done with this conversation.” keith said, before closing his eyes. 

“he likes the name though. he answers to it. you want to be called kosmo, don’t you boy?” lance said, stroking and petting the wolf who had moved further up the bed and was now lying in between the pair. 

“leave my wolf alone.” keith muttered, trying to go to sleep.

“or what?” lance asked. he was in a playful mood, happy and content since keith had returned. 

“do you ever stop? i’m trying to sleep here.” keith pouted, opening his eyes to glare at lance.

“only if you make me.” lance responded, sticking his tongue out. “you can’t tell me what to do!” he sing-songed, acting like a little child. 

keith blames this next part on his tired brain and the fact he was half asleep. but he took lance’s words as a challenge. 

he sat up and leaned over, looking at lance for moment- he was still talking!- before slotting his lips gently against lance’s.

lance responded immediately and it was soft, so soft and warm and unlike any kiss keith had ever had before. 

he pulled away after a few moments, feeling serene and relaxed, and turned back over and settled down to bed. 

“see? i know how to make you be quiet.” keith murmured smugly, proud of himself for getting lance to shut up, before falling asleep.

lance just looked at keith, wide-eyed and speechless. he gently placed his fingers on his lips, trying to understand what the hell just happened. 

“i didn’t make that up did i? that did happen, didn’t it kosmo?” lance whispered, looking to the wolf for reassurance. 

the wolf gave him a long stare before resting his head on lance’s leg, falling asleep almost as quickly as keith had. 

 

//////

 

the next morning keith woke up ridiculously early, feeling an overwhelming urge of regret. 

shitshit shitshit his brain was saying. 

keith was currently panicking. he’d kissed lance. 

but why did he do that? he tried to think of the reason, but all he could find was a mix of emotions that keith didn’t know how to deal with.

he’d never been good with emotions. his normal way of dealing with them was to either turn them into anger or ignore them. 

but he didn’t want to do that. 

it was almost as if kosmo could sense his meltdown, because he picked his head up and crawled over to keith, resting his head on his leg and looking at him fondly. 

“what have i done kosmo?” keith said softly, trying not to wake up lance. he wasn’t ready for that just yet.

but the universe clearly has a vendetta against keith for some unknown reason, because a few moments later, lance stirred and sat up, yawning.

“morning keith. morning kosmo.” lance said, rubbing his eyes and stretching. 

“what are we?” keith blurted out, his hands shaking. he was having a bit of a meltdown. 

“what do you mean? like we as in you and me, or we as in you me and kosmo? or something else? i’m not awake yet so you have to explain it to me.” lance says, confused. 

“me and you. us.” keith whispers, a blush forming on his cheeks. 

“i, uh, don’t know. why? are you freaking out about last night?” lance asks, very perceptive for someone who hasn’t even opened his eyes properly yet. 

“i’m sorry.” keith mumbles.

“why are you sorry? do you regret it?” lance asks, sounding sad. 

why does he sound sad? keith is so confused.

“no, i just, oh i don’t know. i like you but i’m not sure because i don’t know what i’m feeling.” keith says frustratedly, huffing a bit. 

lance laughs gently and scoots closer to him. 

“hey, keith. it’s ok. i like you too, but we can figure it out. we’ll just take it slow, yeah?”

“yeah.” keith mutters, looking down at his hands. 

the two share a long look, and keith feels worlds calmer for it. 

“great. now that’s sorted out, i’m going back to sleep. you should too.” lance said, lying back down and gently pulling keith with him. 

keith ended up sleeping closer to lance than normal, curled up in his arms. and even though it made him blush, he felt more comfortable than he ever had before.

**Author's Note:**

> wah thanks for reading this trash.
> 
> tell me what you thought please even if you thought it was the worst story ever. i crave attention.
> 
>  
> 
> if you wanna cry about Voltron/k-pop with me, hmu on:  
> twitter: @starrygalaxysky  
> wattpad: @SereneStars. 
> 
> love you all and hope you have an amazing day/night <3


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